June 29, 2016 - Jennifer Christie and Bret Max relax in a shaded hammock while Sarah Christie practices hooping on the greensward at Overton Park on Wednesday afternoon as a pleasant breeze kept things cool. The June 30th deadline set by Mayor Jim Strickland looms for results from mediation between the Memphis Zoo and the Overton Park Conservancy that began in January over the zoo's use of the greensward for overflow parking. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal)(Photo: MIKE BROWN)

After five months of mediation, representatives of the Memphis Zoo and the Overton Park Conservancy approach a Thursday deadline without having reached a comprehensive agreement as to how to resolve the years-old conflict over parking on the Overton greensward, officials familiar with the talks say.

'It has been difficult to get both sides to agree to compromise on much ...,' said Richard W. Smith, a zoo board member and member of a committee involved with the mediation.

'My personal belief is that the city is just going to have to call it.'

Conservancy executive director Tina Sullivan agreed. 'As of this moment, we have not reached consensus,' she said Wednesday afternoon.

Mayor Jim Strickland, who called for the mediation and set the Thursday deadline, is expected to announce a decision on the parking issue by late Friday. The City Council had put off action on an ordinance governing the greensward until mediation had concluded.

The conflict centers on the greensward, a 12-acre lawn near the middle of the park, which has been used by the zoo for overflow parking on peak attendance days. The practice has sparked protest from park-support groups and activists who say the parking damages the lawn, crowds out other users and violates the original intent of Overton's designer.

The two sides have concurred on some measures outlined in a transportation and parking report issued by the conservancy in April. They include a reconfiguration of the zoo's main lot to add spaces, and the incorporation of website messages, parking apps and other technology to improve parking efficiency.

'We've agreed on some small, incremental steps,' Smith said.

But many major proposals have been nixed by one side or the other. For instance, the conservancy steadfastly opposed a measure put forth in the past by the zoo to have visitors park in the soon-to-be-vacated General Services area on Overton's east side, then be shuttled through the Old Forest State Natural Area to the zoo.

Smith said the zoo no longer considers the General Services area a viable solution to the greensward parking problem. Shuttling visitors through the forest likely would just generate more protests.

'We don't want to continue to fight this battle on some other territory,' he said. Whatever solution is reached, 'we want it to be permanent.'

For any overarching agreement, each side must realize 'they're not going to get every single thing they want in this deal.':

The crux of the problem is easy to see, Smith said. 'You have two nonprofits that are managing city assets in mediation with each other.'

That's why the city will have to step in and resolve it, he said.

Naomi Van Tol, board member with Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, which opposes greensward parking, said her group is anxiously awaiting the outcome of the talks.

'CPOP hopes that the greensward will be preserved and restored as parkland, but we just haven't seen any guarantee of that,' she said.

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